Half a month later, when Rudolf boarded the ship again, he saw that the ship was already quite popular.
The ship washed off the Carolingian military paint and painted it with gray-blue civilian paint. The ship was full of colorful flags. According to Mackenzie, these colorful flags were not for decoration, but signal flags, representing all the letters and ten numbers.
On the side of the bow, the new name of the ship was written, "Bauhinia", and Cooper used the name of the circus.
Today is the day for the trial operation of the steam turbine after repair, and Rudolf can't wait to go to sea. The army led by the earl has not returned yet, proving that the war is not as smooth as the Royal Navy propaganda. If the army returns, there may be other accidents, and Rudolf doesn't want to drag it on.
In the engine room of the Bauhinia, Rudolf met the ship's chief engineer Salmon, a level 3 alchemist. According to Cooper, he and Mackenzie recruited this alchemist with a monthly salary of 50 gold shields.
This salary is very exaggerated. 50 gold shields is not a small amount. Rudolph calculated for him. If he relied on salary alone, it would only take 40 years for Salmon to save enough gold shields to be promoted to level 4 alchemist. The war made many alchemists on ships lose their jobs, otherwise Salmon's salary would be even higher. He said that his salary was 80 gold shields a month.
"Captain Salmon, how is the repair of the Royal Navy's alchemist engineer? Is the steam engine ready?"
Salmon heard from Mackenzie that Mr. Rudolph in front of him was the largest shareholder and the largest investor of this ship. From the tone of Captain Cooper and First Mate Mackenzie, Mr. Rudolph was the real owner of this ship.
Of course, Rudolph was the owner of this ship. This ship was taken back by Rudolph. So far, he has spent 5,000 gold shields on this ship.
"Those knight nobles are disgusting, and the alchemists who surrender to the knights are even more despicable. However, those alchemy engineers are very good. They have accumulated rich experience and ability to maintain so many warships. After cleaning the seawater and sea salt, the engineers applied new engine oil and replaced many parts. I have checked it several times, and there should be no problem."
Rudolph said, "Captain Salmon, Captain Cooper and I don't want to get involved in your war with the knights. I hope your opinion of the knights will not affect our voyage. We want to go to the South Continent to try our luck and see if there is any opportunity to make a fortune."
"Of course, you can not believe me, but you have to believe in the salary you pay. In this chaotic situation, I am very satisfied with my job. Please believe in my professional ethics."
Hearing Rudolph say that he went to the South Continent to find an opportunity to make a fortune, Salmon did not believe it. How could someone who can get a warship be short of money?
After leaving the engine room, Cooper said:
"I have inquired about it. Mr. Salmon has been working on the ship. He is a trustworthy chief engineer, but his salary is too high.
The crew's salary is divided into two types, alchemist and others. The salary of the alchemist is dozens of gold shields, and the other crew members do not exceed 10 gold shields. Alchemists can always raise their salaries to a sky-high price. This is their professional skill.
If I don't spend your money, I will definitely feel heartbroken."
"Do you think this is human talk?"
"There is also good news. The work of ordinary sailors is done by corpses. I save you... a small sum of money."
First mate Mackenzie took Rudolph to check the artillery. 60 artillery rounds have been repaired and can be used, but the ammunition has not been prepared. The alchemical shells are controlled materials. Kedrick has agreed to contact them, and it will take some time.
"Mr. Rudolph, Captain Cooper and I have discussed for a long time, but we have not yet determined the business scope of the Bauhinia."
"Business scope?"
This is something Rudolph had never thought about. He got this ship just to go to the southern continent. The center of the southern continent is all desert or grassland, and big cities are located along the coast, so it is much more convenient to have a ship.
Armed escort ships, armed merchant ships, or, to be more direct, pirate ships, are all unfamiliar areas for Rudolf.
First mate Mackenzie said:
"This ship is a warship you captured from the Carolingian Navy. It has a huge firepower system. The firepower system of this ship is too abundant in the Saragu Sea. Even if half of the guns are removed, it is enough to deal with most pirates.
Too many guns make this ship very loaded. There are professional supply ships in the navy, but we don't.
My opinion is to modify this ship, reduce 20 guns, and the remaining 40 guns are enough to deter pirates. This can reduce a large part of the ship's load, and the freed space can also be used for loading cargo. This ship is no longer a warship, and there is no need to maintain such a huge firepower."
"Captain, what do you think?" Rudolf looked at Cooper.
Cooper said, "This is a very big change and requires your consent. I agree with Mackenzie's proposal. For 60 cannons, ordinary shells are of little use in naval battles that are only added by high-level apostles. The burden of purchasing alchemical shells is too heavy. I only recently learned that alchemical shells still require alchemists to maintain them constantly, which is very expensive."
"Mackenzie, will the modification of the artillery system delay our sailing time?"
"No. It is difficult to install artillery, but it is very fast to dismantle artillery. After reducing the load, the Bauhinia will be faster and allow us to reach the southern continent earlier."
"Okay, then we'll do as you say." Rudolf asked again, "How is the alchemical reinforcement array on the side of the ship now? Has it been repaired?"
"Captain Salmon helped contact a level 4 alchemist to repair the reinforcement array for us, but the price was very high. He spent 500 gold shields at one time, which is outrageous."
"There's nothing we can do. Alchemists are always so greedy."
Under everyone's expectant gaze, black smoke came out of the chimney of the Bauhinia. After a long period of debugging, the ship slowly left the dock with a sharp whistle. Her destination was the civilian dock a few hundred meters away. This ship was not a Royal Navy ship, and now it had to make room for warships.
The vibration brought to the Bauhinia by the steam turbine was very smooth, proving that the operation of the turbine was normal.
When the Bauhinia entered the civilian dock, many people standing not far away cheered at the dock. The port of Kordor was blockaded by the Royal Navy, and no ships had been seen docking for more than a month. Those who made a living on the dock were cheering for the arrival of the new ship.
A week later, Nairn, the butler of the Earl's Castle, met Rudolf on the Bauhinia.
"Mr. Rudolph, Captain Cooper, I am Nairn, the itinerant steward of the Earl's Castle. Master Caleb sent me to the Earl's Castle's estate in the southern continent. We will travel together. When can we set off? If possible, I hope to leave tomorrow." Rudolph saw the ship of the estate steward Nairn. The ship was flying a golden anchor flag and was parked next to the Bauhinia. The ship was slender and equipped with only 12 guns. It looked like a very fast sea vessel.
"Tomorrow! Tomorrow then!"
Rudolph had a good first impression of Nairn. He was wearing a tuxedo, his back was straight, and his face had a tough look that only soldiers have. I hope this level 4 knight can protect Rudolph from the wind and rain.